The Philadelphia 76ers were victorious against the Milwaukee Bucks. They won 113-104. Joel Embiid led the way after a quiet first half with 22 points, 12 rebounds, and 5 blocks. Fellow rookie Dario Saric scored 17 points and grabbed 9 rebounds. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 23 points, but just about disappeared in the second half. The game was close for a good 3 and a half quarters. Then it got out of hand as the Sixers eventually grabbed a 15 point lead towards the end.
The game had a poor start and the Brixers were the first team to show up.
The Greek Freak scored the Bucks' and game's first 7 points. the Bucks at one point led 9-0. Robert Covington finally made a 3 pointer. In fact, he made two of them. Shucks, he scored the Brixers' and game's next 8 points. Ultimately, the Brixers were able to grab the lead and were up by 6. At the end of the quarter, it was tied 24-24. Things were close during most of the second quarter until the Bucks made three 3 pointers in a row to blow up an 8 point lead. That was the lead heading into the half although Gerald Henderson beat the buzzer to avoid a double digit deficit for the half.
In the first half of the showdown between The Process and The Greek Freak, Embiid only had 4 points and 7 rebounds. Antetokounmpo had 21 points and 4 rebounds. Covington didn't score since his outburst to start the game. Embiid did make an impact on defense during the first half.
The Sixers started the 3rd quarter with a burst to narrow the gap to a tie. From there, it was a close game as most of the game before then. The Sixers actually shot a lot worse than the Bucks. At one point, in the middle of the 3rd quarter, the Sixers were shooting 40 percent and the Bucks were shooting 50 percent. Sixers were down 3 points. Looking closely, the Sixers had 12 made 3-pointers while the Bucks only had 4 makes. So, while the Sixers shot worse (and less), they got more points.
Sixers ended the 3rd quarter up by 3 after starting it down 8. That was a good sign. In a game where both teams don't hold big leads for long, you sort of figured everything would be fine for the Sixers. Less than a minute into the 4th, Antetokounmpo got his 5th foul. That was a big blow for the Bucks. The Sixers pushed their lead to 8 points. They also built this lead with Embiid on the bench. Once Embiid came back, the Sixers grew the lead to 13 as he took on the load of shooting for the team. In fact, on both sides of the ball, he dominated the 4th quarter.
Even when Antetokounmpo came back in, it seemed like it was too late. Considering he only scored 2 points in the second half, and also saddled with foul trouble, he really ended up out of rhythm and it hurt his team in the end as Embiid rose to the occasion to lead his Sixers to victory.
This was a big win for the Sixers as they continue to improve. They are staying in close games and closing them out better and better. Next game is against the Raptors. This will be a big test for them.
